Steam-condensing apparatus



H. 0. BAKER.

STEAM CONDENSING APPARATUS.

APPLlcATmN FILED ocT.19. 191B.

1,375,272. Patented Apr. 19, 1921 I 6a 'Q 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESS: INVEN TOR.

H. 0. BAKER.

STEAM CONDENSING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED-001114918.

1,375,272. Pategyfgpr. 19, 1921.Y

INVENTOR.l

l V'," MM Q ATTORNEYS f H. o. BAKER.

STEAM CONDENSING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I9, 1918.

Patented Apr. 19, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

9% QN/ QW I\ r9 INVENTOR ,JIHQPHQIJ Q`Bq`kgr' BY l l nf 'I' f ATTORNEYS HARTLEY O. BAKER, OF PUEBLO, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR T THE BAKER STEAMiMOTOR CAR ANI)IVM-LNTFACTU'.RIl1\TGrv C0., INC., 0F PUEBLO, COLORADO.

' STEAM-CONDENSING APPARATUS..

istante.

ToZZwwmz't may concer-n.' Y

Be it known that l, HARTLEY @.BAKER, a citizen of the United'V States, residing. at

" Pueblo, in the county of Pueblo and Statev of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Steam-Condensing Apparatus; and I do Ahereby declare the following to be a full, clear, 'and exacty description of the invention, suchV as"will enablev others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates'tonewa'nd useful steam condensing systems and the primeobject of the invention is to provide one which condensing units arranged in circuit between the engine and the main water-tank of the` possesses a'maximum amount of condensing efficiency and which is so v'constructed and arranged that it twill occupya Vminimum amount of space.

Another object of the invention is to provide a steam condensing system, primarily designed for use in connection with motor vehicles andwhich embodies a plurality of vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to vemploy steam condensing units of such construction as to produce ainaximum amount ,ofcondensingefliciency.

A still further object of the invention is to provide the main radiator condenser with an overiiow pipe leading'- into the smoke stack or chimney of the boiler, said overiow pipe being provided with a pressure relief check valve which when open under backv pressure accumulatiiigin the system as when the vehicle is running under a load or in making sudden spurts, will allow the back pressure and any watery or steam that may be present to escape into the top of the boiler chimney and thus assist in" creating a draft through the water.

Withthese and other objects in view as .will appear as thedescription proceeds, the

Fig. 3 represents a transyerse sectionaly i Application iledOctober 19, 1918. Serial No. 258,799..

Snecication of Letters atent. yPatenti-)ed Apr. 197 1 view takenon a plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4L represents al perspective view of the looking in thev direction of the arrow;

Fig. 8 represents a similar view, taken on a planeindicated by the line 8 8 of Fig.y

6, looking in the direction of the arrow.;

Fig. 9' is a perspective view of anotherv form of condensingl unit Y Fig. 10 represents a transverse sectional y view through an auxiliary water tank or another form of condensing unit on a plane' indicated by the -line 10-10 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 11 represents a longitudinal sectional view, taken on a plane indicatedby the line 11- 11 onv Fig. 10; t

Fig. 12 representsa rear elevation of th radiator or main condenser; and

Fig. 13 represents a vertical sectional view t through the pressure relief valve, taken on a plane indicated by the line 13-13 of Fig.'12. i

Referring to* the'` drawings and` particu-A larly to Fig. 1, vE indicates a fiuid expansion engine, such as are used in steam motor vehicle construction, B the boiler, R the radiator or main condenser, and A and A faux-KV iliary condensing units arranged in circuit between the engine -and radiator condenser.

rlhe auxiliary condenserA is connected di-V rectly to the exhaust port of the engineY by a pipe 1 which gradually increases in diameter fromv the exhaust port toward the condenser A so that the iiuid'can freely ex- Y h'aust from the engine while the vehicle is under a load strain such as climbing a hill or as in sudden spurts and thuseliminate clicking of the engine so well known and undesirable. 2 indicates a pipe leading from the lopposite end of the condenser A to one' end of the auxiliary condenser A', the latter' beingconnected by a pipe 3 to the top of the radiator vor main vcondenser R, said connection being made through a plurality of branches 4 in order to. more conveniently distribute the steaminto the radiator. so as to produce the most efhcient condensation.

Y A pipeV leads from thebottom `of the preferably constructed of the type of conchambers.

radiator R1 to an auxiliary water `tank or another formgof: condensing ,unit W, the.

latterbeing relatively arranged with respect to the radiator so that thecondensed fluidV will. flow by gravity back to this auxiliary water tank. r 6 indicates theipipe. connecting the auxiliary water tank or condenser to the main water tank T whereby the water as it accumulates in the auxiliary water tank may` gravitate into the main tank in order to maintain a predetermined level within the auxiliary water tank.

VKThe boiler B is provided with'a chimney or smokestackV 7- into the Aupper end of which extends one end of an overflow pipe 8, the other end ofthe latter being connected to the upper part of the radiator condenser and atjits connection with the radiator condenser is a pressure frelief or check valve 59.'

While I have shown two auxiliary con# densers A andA in'. the diagrammatic view of the invention, I desireto have it under? stood that this number may befeither increased or decreased as desired andinasmuch as these auxiliary condensers are identical in construction itl is believed that a description of one will suffice.

.These yauxiliary condensers A and A are d'ensing unit shown in F ig. 2. .y r1`his unit embodies a plurality of condensing chambers 10, 11,12 andl, each consecutively increasing in v'size for a purpose which will presently appear. Each of the condensing chambers is connected to the adjacent one bya plurality of pipes 14 to establish free and direct communication between,` said 15 indicates the air pipes that are arranged transversely through each, of the 'condensingchambera said pipes in all of the chambers beingof the same diameter in the present instance, `butit is of course tojbe'understood that' the diameters of thej pipes in the variouscond'ensing chambers maybe varied 1n direct ratio to the size of the chamber. The' chamber 10 is provided` with an inlet pipe 16 entering it from the ,top while the chamber 13 isv provided withv anoutlet-pipev 17 extending from its lower portion sothat any condensation that may accumulate within the various chambers can be freely .exhausted from the condensing unit under the pressure in the condensing system.

'inasmuch asv the volume of the steam isl greatest immediately upon leaving the engine and entering. the condensing; unit, the rstchamber 10 thereof is necessarily made the largest to takev care of this. n Ydecreased in volume by condensation will then pass on through the pipes 14 into the next smallerfchamber 11`and'like in the' chamber ..10`fwill. be .partially condensed l by The Vsteam the air passing through the pipes'l as it comes in contact with and passes around them. This action Y continues throughout the (entire length ofthe condensing unit and by the time the steam reaches the end of the unit it-will be partially condensed.

In Figs. 4 and 5 are illustrated the con-Y shown vin Figs. 6, 7 and 8 comprises a`tubu.

lar open-ended casing 20, preferably rec!k tangularl'in cross section, one end Yof which y is flared outwardly. as at 21 to facilitate the entrance yof the airff Arranged thek casing are a pluralityl offcondensingch'am-- bers 22, 23,24, 2,5, 26 andr27 which vare con# secutively reducedV in sizeYA fora purpose which will presently appear. y'lhese,cham-` bers are designed to be conveniently sup-V ported .centrally within the tubular'casing 20. Each chamber is provided vwith air pipes 28' which extend therethrough, said pipes all being arranged in longitudinal Valinement with each other and lengthwise of the casing 20 'so that the air in entering vthe flared forward end of the casing 2O can freely pass onthrough ,thev variouscondensing chambers consecutively to absorb the heat of the steam as it enters and expandsV within the condensing chambers. f It is to be noted that the air pipes 28 decrease in diameterin each of theV condensing chambers consecutively from the chamber. 22 to the chamber 28 for the reason that YVas the.l steam passes on from one condensing cham'- ber ,to the other expandingV and losing heat, Va less amount of air isnecessaryto' condense the constantly decreasingV volumei of steam,

29 indicatesuan inlet whichextends-` transversely through the .casing 20 andiintol communication 'with the chamber 22andmay enterthe latter at anyconvenient'point; Each of the condensing chambers isfconnected to the adjacent one 'l by a pipe 30.y 31 indicatesy an outlet pipe leading/from Y Y '.120 the last chamber27, the lattertogether with the pipesO being arrangedin aplane'- sub- ,j

stantially at the bottoms ofthe condensing chambers so that any condensation or waterV accumulated within the various chambers can be freely forced throughgand expelled from the condensing unit.` By positioning the condensing chambers. centrally within the tubing it will be manifest that-theair Y Passing vfreely around thesefhembers together with that passing' through the y,chamber will eifectually produce a maximum amountof condensing efficiency. y In Fig. 9 .willbe seen still lanother form of condensing runit which comprises a pair 'of condensing chambers 32 of substantially lthe same size which are connected by a plurality of pipes' 33, one of said chambers being provided with the inlet pipe 34 and the other withan outlet pipe 35. Each. of these chambers is provided with transverselyjextending air pipes 36. This unit functions in i the same manner as the previously-described ones and particularly that shown in Fig. 2.

In Figs. 10 and' 11 are illustrated the con'- struction of the auxiliary watertank or condenser and comprises arect angular"casing 37 entirely closed butnprovidedlongitudinally at one side of the top with a dome portion`38 which extends throughout the entire length of the tank. 39 is a goose-neck overflow pipe connected centrally to the top of the dome portion 38 at the forward end of the tank. The pipe 5, Fig. 1, leads into the front end of the tank at a point adjacent to its top and extends longitudinally of the tank to a point adjacent the rear thereof. A plurality of spaced serpentine coils 40 each have one end connected to the inlet pipe 5 while the other end extends upwardly and terminates in a downwardly curved end 41,v

said end terminating in substantially the same plane with the top of the tank for a purposeV which will presently appear. The tops of the serpentine coils are in a plane with that of the inlet pipe 5, and the tank is designed to contain a quantity of water suflicient to submerge these coils and the inlet pipe as indicated in Fig. 10. The pipe 6 connects the auxiliary water tank with the main water tank T whereby water from the auxiliary tank may gravitate into the latter.

The radiator or main condenserR may be of any well known construction used in steam motor car construction but in this instance is provided with the overflow pipe 8 at a point adjacent its top, said pipe being provided with a relief valve 9, the construction of which is more clearly indicated in Fig. 13. rlhis valve is spring pressed and is designed to open under a certain amount of back pressure say three pounds such as occurs when the car is climbing a hillor in sudden spurts. 'Ihe opening of this valve will relieve the back pressure and allow the same to escape into the chimney of the boiler which will materially assist in creating aV in partially condensed or practically con-` densed vform :will pass onto the auxiliary water 'tank or condenser W- and into the serpentinecoils-40.

In the use of a system of this-character andwhen-the vehicle is climbing a hill, it will be noted that the water in the auxiliary water tank W will .flow toward the rear of thektank l`thus allowing any back pressure which may accumulate within, the tank to escape' through the gooseneck y39`to the atmosphere..y vOn the other hand when the vel hiclek is going down .hill ythe waterv will flow tothe forward end r,of the tank thus 'closing and sealing the entrance to the. overflow pipe 39and Vtheterminal 'ends of certain of the pipes i() butinasmuch `as there is no back Y pressurein the system while the vehicle `is going'down hill, this rushof the water tothe lfront of the tank will not affect the system in any way. Y

i By the use of a steam condensing system of the above described construction, it will be apparent that the steam as it is exhausted from the engine will be thoroughly condensed and returned to the main water tank without in any way chokin the exhaust or affecting the` operation of t e engine.

While I have described the preferred embodiment of my invention I desire it to be understood that such changes in construction, operation and arrangement of parts may be made when desired as are within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1.1A steamcondensing system embodying a water tank, condensing means, and al discharge pipe for the condensing means having a coil within the water tank below the water leveland a discharge terminal above the water level directed toward the water.

2. A steam condensing system embodying a main water tank, an auxiliary water tank connected to the main water tank to" supply the same, steam condensing means, a discharge pipe for the condensing means, coils connected to said discharge pipe and located within the auxiliary water tank below the water level, said coils having discharge terminals extending upwardly out of the water and directeddownwardly toward the water.

3.l A steam condensing lsystem embodying a main water tank, an auxiliary water tank connected to the main tank to supply water thereto, steam condensing means, a discharge vpipe for the condensing means, the top of the auxiliary water tank having a dome portion, coils connected to said discharge pipe and located within the auxiliary water tank below the water level, said coils having dis- Y chargeV terminals extending upwardly within gated open ended casing for the Vpassage of air therethrough, a series of condensing chambers within said casing for the flow of air'around said chambers, pipes connecting said chambers for the iow of steam from one chamber to the other, and pipes extending through the chambers for the flow of air therethrough and located between the first named pipes. Y g

5. A steam condenser having anaair passage, a series ofsteam condensing chambers in said passage, steam conducting pipes connecting said chambers for the flow of steam 'from one chamber to the other, and air pipes extending through said chambers and arranged longitudinally of the 'air passage.

6. In a' steam condensing system, a water tank, a boiler having a draft flue, steaml consaid flue for the discharge of steam into the 'A flue to increase'the draft,cand al normally closed pressure Valve vfor the pressure Ypipe adapted to openy and permit the flow of steam into the lue when the pressure rises A above the predetermined amount.V Y t In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specification inthe two subscribing witnesses.

Vitnesses:

j P. S', BROWN, v V-FRONIEAnnul;l e

presence o HARTLEY o. BAKER. 

